Rifle Noise Suppressor

ABSTRACT

My invention is a rifle noise suppressor comprised of a cylindrical chamber which contains a nested set of baffles concentrically and longitudinally arrayed through the chamber. One end of the chamber is threaded and threads are cut into the barrel of a rifle to permit the noise suppressor to be screwed into place. The chief advantage of the concentrically arrayed baffles is a shorter chamber, approximately one-half the length of a typical noise and smoke suppression device, yet able to achieve equal noise and smoke suppression by causing the escaping gases following the explosion of the bullet being fired to travel farther within the suppressor chamber.

CROSS-REFERENCES

Provisional Application No. 61/889,326 filed Oct. 10, 2013.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY-SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

None.

NAMES OF PARTIES TO JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

None.

REFERENCE TO “SEQUENCE LISTING”

None.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Noise suppression devices are useful they because reduce sound and smokeproduced by the firing of a bullet so as to assist in concealing theposition of a shooter. Typical noise suppression devices rely on thesequentially linear placement of baffles, see for instance US PatentApplication Publication No. 2012/0291614 by Koumbis on Nov. 22, 2012, atFIGS. 6, 7 and 8. The problem with these devices is that arrangement ofsequential baffles in a row requires a longer device in order to achieveadequate suppression. My invention achieves sound and smoke suppressionby a much shorter device, which favors concealment of the shooter, byarranging the baffles concentrically and longitudinally within a conicalchamber that is affixed to the end of a rifle's muzzle by threading itinto place.

The suppressor works by relying on the reflective properties of soundand gas expansion. With extended travel over time, energy is dissipated,lowering temperature and pressure, which translates to sound loss andslower gas velocity. The key is to increase the duration of thetraveling gas. When a bullet is fired there is an explosion of gunpowder. The bullet is propelled down the barrel bringing with itescaping gas. As the bullet passes by a diverter, the gas is immediatelyforced into the suppressor channels. The channels are formed from nestedbaffles which are tubes mounted concentrically and held in place at oneend by a grooved plug to accommodate the tubes. There are two or threetubes inserted into the plug end nearest to the muzzle and one or twoplugs inserted into the plug end farthest from the muzzle. The tubes arefixed in place with a slight gap to allow the escaping gas to bediverted into the chamber and then to pass back and forth through thetubular channels. The gas reflects backwards and forwards with each turnthrough the channels, in a fashion similar to sound echoing withincanyon walls. It is the nesting of baffles which increases the durationof traveling gas while reducing the overall length of the suppressor.

In another embodiment, the rifle noise suppressor has two threaded ends,one of which is threaded onto a muzzle end of a rifle barrel, and theend of the cylindrical chamber farthest from the muzzle end can bescrewed into a rifle barrel extension. The purpose of the barrelextension is to improve shooting accuracy by adding balance to theweapon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Three drawings, described as follows:

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional side view of a nested baffles within aconical chamber that is affixed on one end to the muzzle end of a rifleand on the other end to a rifle barrel extension.

FIG. 2 is an oblique view of the conical chamber which is sandwichedbetween the end of the muzzle and the barrel extension.

FIG. 3A contains cross-sectional views of two threaded plugs asassembled.

FIG. 3B contains cross-sectional view of two threaded plugsdisassembled, with the view of the threaded plug at the end nearest tothe muzzle containing three tubes which are nested within two tubeswhich are inserted at the end farthest from the muzzle.

FIG. 3C contains a cross-sectional view disassembled showing the plug atthe end farthest from the muzzle containing two tubes which are nestedwithin three tubes which are inserted at the end nearest to the muzzle.

FIG. 4 contains an oblique view showing the concentric arrangement ofbaffles within the plug at the end nearest to the muzzle (left side) andthe plug at the end farthest from the muzzle (right side).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In FIG. 1, the rifle noise suppressor is shown as comprising acylindrical chamber 2 which contains a nested set of baffles 3. Thebaffles are between three and five tubes concentrically andlongitudinally arrayed 3 through the chamber 2. The chamber 2 is affixedto the muzzle end of a rifle 1 by threading 11 to the muzzle. In FIG. 1,there is an extension barrel 4 aft of the chamber 2, so that the chamber2 is affixed to the extension barrel 4 as well by threading 9.

Affixed to the end of the conical chamber 2 nearest to the muzzle is adiverter 8. The diverter directs the gas escaping from the explosion offiring the bullet into the chamber 2. The chamber 2 has two opposingplugs (shown below). At the end nearest to the muzzle, the plug isgrooved to accept two or three tubes, which tubes run the length of thechamber 2, less a small gap to allow gas to travel into adjoining tubes.At the end farthest from the muzzle, the plug is grooved to accept oneor two tubes, which tube(s) run the length of the chamber 2, less asmall gap to allow gas to travel into adjoining tubes. The three to fivetubes are concentrically and longitudinally arrayed. The bullet 5 isshown proceeding out of the muzzle for perspective.

In FIG. 2, the conical chamber 2 has two threaded ends, one threaded end6 can be affixed to a muzzle end of a rifle barrel which in turn, hasreverse threads to accommodate the affixation. On the other threaded end7 farthest from the muzzle, the chamber 2 can be affixed to a barrelextension 4 for additional accuracy for longer range targets. Threadingto affix the suppression device to the muzzle end and extension of thebarrel is well known to one skilled in the art. Other than threading toaccommodate the suppression device, no modification of the rifle isrequired nor anticipated.

In FIG. 3A, a cross-section of the inside of the chamber 2 is shown withone plug 17 in place. In FIG. 3B the same plug, which is nearest to themuzzle end of the rifle is shown attached to three tubes 19 runningconcentrically and longitudinally through the chamber. There is a slightgap at the end of these tubes, to allow gas to escape into another tube.In FIG. 3C, the opposing plug 18, which is farthest from the muzzle endof the rifle is shown attached to two tubes 20 which also runconcentrically and longitudinally through the chamber. There is a slightgap at the end of these tubes to allow gas to escape into another tube.

In FIG. 4, an oblique disassembled view of the plug 17 nearest to themuzzle end with the three tubes 19 affixed to the plug is shown on theleft. The plug 18 farthest from the muzzle end with the two tubes 20affixed to the plug is shown on the right. The dotted line shows how thetubes are inserted together from “x to x” within the noise suppressorchamber.

Calculation of noise and smoke or gas, reduction reveals that the lengthof the barrel impacts suppression. Greater suppression can be achievedwith longer barrels, all other factors being equal—meaning that there ismore noise and more smoke with shorter barrels. Shorter barrels arefavored in close quarters, in areas where concealment is a very highpriority, and when the weapon must be carried long distances so as toreduce weight. My invention promotes shorter barrels by reducing thelength of the conical chamber which contains the suppression device.

Of note, the length of the conical chamber along the longitudinal axisof the rifle barrel is no more than three inches. The same degree ofsuppression is achieved with concentrically and longitudinally orientedbaffles as described here, compared to sequential baffles ofapproximately twice this device's length.

An important advantage of the suppression device is that the shorterdevice will not impact the speed of the bullet as much as the longerdevices currently deployed which rely on sequential baffles. In essence,my invention re-directs the noise and smoke through the concentricallyand longitudinally arrayed baffles in the conical chamber. Throughdispersion, reduced noise and smoke escape from the muzzle of the rifle.

The above description of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention has been presented for the purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations are possible in light of the above teachings. It is intendedthat the scope of the present invention not be limited by this detaileddescription, but by the claims and the equivalents to the claims.

I claim:
 1. A rifle noise suppressor comprising: a cylindrical chamberwith two opposing ends, which chamber contains a nested set of baffles,where the baffles are concentrically and longitudinally arrayed throughthe chamber, there are at least two baffles held in place by a plugwhich is connected to an end of the cylindrical chamber located farthestfrom the muzzle and at least three baffles held in place by a plug whichis connected to the end of the cylindrical chamber located nearest tothe muzzle, where the chamber has a threaded end that can be affixed toa muzzle end of a rifle barrel, and where the rifle barrel has reversethreads to accommodate the affixation.
 2. The device of claim one, wherethe rifle noise suppressor has two threaded ends, one of which isthreaded onto a muzzle end of a rifle barrel, and an end of thecylindrical chamber farthest from the muzzle end can be screwed into arifle barrel extension.